Lexington got blanketed this week with yet another mailer on Amendment 2, the ballot measure that would change the state Constitution to allow public school funding to go to private schools.
But you’d never know it was about that: Once again, advocates are touting the lie that Amendment 2 would increase teacher pay and funding for public schools.
This one also focuses on teacher staffing: “If Kentucky schools had the staffing that Ohio has, not only would we improve our education, but we would reinvest in our economy by better preparing our students to succeed. With more efficient staffing, we could pay our teachers a fair wage and provide our students with the highest quality education.”
These claims are misleading and confusing.
- Amendment 2 does nothing but change the language of the Kentucky Constitution to take away the guardrails put there in 1891 to guard public school funding. If it passes, the General Assembly will have to design a school choice plan, which could range from charter schools to education savings accounts to universal vouchers. If legislators wanted to, they could raise teacher pay and school funding right now without Amendment 2.
- The claims about teacher pay going up in states with school choice are based on economic theories about competition. Yes, in highly urban districts with lots of private schools it’s possible teacher pay could go up if droves of public school teachers suddenly left for private schools. But in 61 percent of Kentucky’s 171 public school districts, there are no private schools.
- The mailer says that Kentucky teachers get the “lowest compensation” compared to Indiana, Tennessee, Ohio, and West Virginia. But the mailer used the average starting salaries according to the NEA national database, not the actual average salaries.
Read the rest at the Herald-Leader.
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